


Radiant Apathy, Delicious Shadows

by Dreams_of_Silence



Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: "Ainz's" plans, Ainz needs a translator, Albedo is OTT, And a friend, Apathetic Gods, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, How OP can we go?, Mind Control, Reality Bending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2020-09-24 19:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20363947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreams_of_Silence/pseuds/Dreams_of_Silence
Summary: Momonga changed his name in an attempt to find his guild members. But the one who finds him isn't a guild member, or even really a player.Now a new force has entered Nazarick, one that could as easily destroy them as help them. Lets just all try to get along.





	1. Chapter 1

The throne room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was truly a place of spender. Towering columns lined the vast chamber creating a wide walkway to the throne. Each column bore a flag of the forty-one guild members of old. Chandeliers of precious gems hung high in the darkness between them emitting a gentle blue glow.

Down below, at the foot of the steps to the Throne of Kings, stood Nazarick's most two most dependable Guardians; heads bowed as they gave their reports to their Lord.

Seated upon the obsidian throne Ainz Ooal Gown; the last of the Supreme Beings, the Guild Master of Nazarick, the Ruler of Death...watched in awe as his advisers battled to convey their information as convolutely as possible.

No that wasn't quite fair. Albedo, Overseer of the Guardians, was managing to get her message across... between her praise of her beloved Lord Ainz and mockery of everyone else.

From what he could gather from Albedo's words, Cocytus was requesting Mare's assistance with the newly conquered lizardmen. Combining the separate clans had created a strain on the surrounding land. As much as Ainz wanted Cocytus to manage this project himself learning to ask for his fellow Floor Guardian's help was still a step in the right direction. He could hardly expect the warrior to know enough about farming to teach the lizardmen himself.

'I will allow Mare to offer his aid. However ensure that Cocytus and the lizardmen think though their problems before resorting to asking him. The priority now is for Cocytus to expand his skill set. Have Aura increase security on the sixth floor until her brother returns.'

The succubus dipped into a graceful bow at her undead Lord's words.

'As you wish my Lord Ainz, it shall be done. Your generosity towards those lower than you is only surpassed by your wisdom as a ruler~'

Albedo beamed up at him, her smile as radiant as a rather obsessive sun, wings quivering slightly.

_'What did I do now? Ugh, it takes so little to trigger her. She better not pounce on me again- '_ Ainz cut off mid thought.

'Yes, well, the lizardmen are now our subjects, it falls under my duties to ensure they don't starve within the first months.'

'Of course my Lord Ainz. I was referring to Cocytus for daring to bother you over such a trivial matter. Ask it of me and I shall see that he is reprimanded at once.'

_'And this, this is the reason why it's so hard to get the floor guardians to ask for help or think outside the box.' _Ainz wished he could get away with face palming in front of her.

'I believe Albedo, that it is in fact our Lord's plan for Cocytus to do such a thing.' The devil beside Albedo spoke up, giving a knowing smirk. ' Soon we shall be stretched rather thin and Cocytus must learn to adapt before then. I assume my Lord that you plan to test Shalltear as well.'

_'I still don't know what your talking about Demiurge, why will we be spread out? Damn, why does he always think I know what he thinks my plans are. Ugh, I feel like we're walking around in circles trying to follow each other. Training Shalltear would be a good idea though, she's amazing in melee combat but otherwise...a bit of a loose canon.'_

'Ah, you understand me perfectly as always Demiurge.'

'Not at all my Lord, I am merely grasping at what little I see of the vastness of your plan.'

'You give yourself too little credit Demiurge. Now how far along is your parchment research?'

Ainz leans back as the red clad arch-devil spoke, his tail swishing at Ainz's praise.

_'As important as it is to acquire parchment for new scrolls I'm glad there's something basic I can just let Demiurge do, and trust that as long as he says all is going well I don't need to get involved. Maybe it will distract him from his ornate plans for a bit. He probably thinks of it as a holiday, or a mindless chore. I hope he's not upset at me wasting his talents like this. No, having spell scrolls is important, he'll see that.' _

'…...And so my Lord it should only be- hmm?'

Demiurge's voice trailed off mid report as he turned to look behind him. The great metal doors at the far end of the throne room had slammed open. Ainz would have frowned if his face was capable of it: That anyone would dare to interrupt them was worrying.

He could see two figures at the far end of the giant room approaching slowly. He recognised the first even at this distance: Aura, one of the twin dark elf children that guards the sixth floor of Nazarick. However the girl who followed behind her he did _not _know.

Something was wrong with Aura. He could see it in way she walked: She had neither the carefree attitude he would normally expect of her nor did she apologise for her rude entry. Considering Ainz had to constantly back-peddle to prevent all of the Floor Guardians from apologising for things that weren't even _remotely _their fault this was very concerning.

As the two figures approached the eerie blankness on Aura's face became more obvious. Compared to her normally bubbly persona the gentle serene smile she wore was downright disturbing.

_'She reminds me of Shalltear when she was......No....Aura, please I don't want to have to kill you as well.'_

Ainz struggled to stay still and keep his thoughts to himself, if Aura had fallen to mind control they would find out soon enough.

It wasn't Aura however who caused Albedo to jump in front of both himself and Demiurge: Battle-axe drawn and her great black feathered wings spread out to shield Ainz from view.

'Aura you dare defile the throne room by bringing in this human scum?! Never before has an outsider entered this room and you just waltz in here like a _tour guide_? I shall end your lives for this disgraceful treason!'

'Albedo enough!' Ainz commanded.

The human girl didn't even bother to glance at Albedo despite the waves of malicious intent that rolled off the succubus. Instead she studied Ainz carefully, locking eyes with the skeletal Overlord.

Aura also seemed to ignore Albedo's words, stopping to give a little bow as the human calmly walked past. Her monotone voice pointlessly informing the human:

'Here is Lord Momonga.'

Ainz froze at the dark elf's words. It wasn't the name of _Ainz Ooal Gown_ the human had asked to see then but rather the Username he had originally went by in Yggdrasil... A name no longer used and that none but those loyal to Nazarick should know of.

_'So we have a traitor in Nazarick unless....unless this girl is a player from Yggdrasil. Ahh, I'm not sure which idea is scarier.'_

After far too long walking between the columns the girl stopped in front of them; tilting her head and gave a little smile to Ainz.

'Good evening. I hope I'm not interrupting.'

_'Okay, keep it cool. You've still got Albedo and Demiurge watching. You've got to keep up appearances and make sure she doesn't get her mind control hooks in them as well. I don't see any items on her, was it a spell she used?' _

'Good evening. Am I to assume you are responsible for Shalltear's recent laps in judgement? '

Ainz was painfully glad his undead nature hid the worry from his voice. His words even came out in a half decent attempt at regal.

The human girl tilted her head to the other side, rocked back on her heels and lightly grasped her hands behind her back.

'Hmm, your vampire lady? No, it was however that display that drew my attention to you in the first place. 'Tis not often I get to see a World Class item in use. After that I was curious enough to keep an eye on the poor thing. Your fight with her, truly stunning and that twist at the end was spectacular. I assume you've res-ed the lady? '

_'She knows what happened to Shalltear! We can finally find out who has the strength to attack Nazarick... Wait, that means she's been watching us. Without us knowing!?_'

'Yes the resurrection spell behaved as to be expected.'

Albedo was starting to growl softly, the hatred pouring off her was thick enough to be almost visible. Demiurge too had activated his _ 'Aspect of the Devil: Razor Sharp Claws.' _Said claws were held out in front of him, ready to strike at a moments notice, his intense gaze on the human before him.

The human took another step forward, it was apparently too much for Albedo.

'You pathetic worm! That you dare to approach a Supreme Being dressed in such filth! You should be begging us to end your miserable existence!'

_ 'Wow, yeh. How didn't I notice this girl's wearing dirty rags? I'm amazed Albedo hasn't tried to kill her yet for merely touching Nazarick's floor. ' _

'You will kneel before Lord Ainz and beg for his mercy!' Demiurge's voice echoed with Command Mantra.

_'Demi- Ahh, that's not going to work.'_

The girl smirked at the devil, as if his attempts to mind control her was an inside joke. Which really was the last straw for Albedo.

'YOU DARE DISRESPECT MY BELOVED LORD AINZ!?** I WILL END YOU**!'

Albedo dashed forward, battle-axe already swinging towards the girl's face...only for it to stop inches away from her eye.

There was nothing blocking the axe: No signs of magic, not even a hand to catch it. Albedo just stood there, mid swing, perfectly still.....perfectly silent......she wasn't even breathing.

_ 'Okay this is bad, this is really really bad. Damn it, She's not a player.' _

Because Yggdrasil had rules. Actually as far as Ainz knew all games had this rule. Magic casting came with effects: sparkling lights, noises, a hand wave..._something_.

But what this girl just did had none of that. And yet it was instantly recognisable; a memory nearly always connected to his deaths in the later years of playing Yggdrasil....when the number of administrators had greatly decreased.

_'Hacker...'_

'Apologies, I did not mean for our conversation to be interrupted.' She glanced at Demiurge. 'Does this one feel the need to try as well?'

Before the devil could open his mouth Ainz spoke up. There was no use further aggravating her. If she wanted to talk then Ainz would try his hardest to make sure that was all that happened.

'Demiurge stand down.'

The devil gritted his teeth and took a step back.

'As you say my Lord Ainz, your wish is _always_ my command.'

'It was not my intension to inconvenience you, in fact I mean to come to friendly terms. Ah, 'tis awkward now.'

_'Seriously, who is this girl? She doesn't want to come off as hostile but thinks it 's okay to rewrite the code of my floor guardians?'_

The human girl hummed, rocking on her feet again.

'So you're going by Ainz now? The name of your guild is certainly well known among the players. '

'I am indeed: Ainz Ooal Gown of the Great Tomb of Nazarick! Even among players there are few who would dare enter Nazarick so hastily. So the question is who are you dare such a task?'

_'Maybe...a tad too dramatic for talking to another player.'_

She just tilted her head and grinned at him.

'You seem intelligent enough Ainz, I'm sure one so dedicated to the world of Yggdrasil can tell.'

_'Okay, okay, she thinks she's given you enough clues for you to know. You can work this out. Can't risk failing in front of Demiurge.'_

Ainz took a good look at the human in front of him. The most obvious thing about her was that she was filthy; ash, dirt and blood was soaked into her her dark hair and grey dress.

_'Please tell me none of that blood came from Nazarick. Wait.. that dress.'_

Ainz had only ever had the one character in Yggdrasil, meaning he had only been through the character creation menu once, but he had watched a lot of 'let's players' start off and if he was right...That ruined grey dress was the default starting one for female characters.

A dress she shouldn't have escaped from Tutorial Island still wearing. When you picked your starting class you were forced to upgrade it for class specific armour.

_'Okay, just confirms she's a hacker. She knows too much to actually be a new player. Wait, is there any chance....Administrators go around in unavailable gear to identify themselves. Hold on, if she was a administrator that would explain how she knew that a World Class item was used on Shalltear, they get notified to prevent the problems World Class items can bring up. Maybe...'_

She wasn't wearing any jewellery that might have given a hint at her class, or weapons, or for that matter shoes...Unless the thick coating of blood on her feet gave some sort of armour bonus.

Her face was pale under the grime, large blue eyes, full lips quirked in amusement as she watched him.

_'Probably European? Actually I think her accent is as well. I wonder if she came from a different server? I wonder what that means for the language barrier?'_

Now came the tricky part of her design: The wolves and ravens tattoo that ran the length of her arm.

It wasn't that tattoos were banned from Yggdrasil, unlike some other DMMO-RPG's, it was the fact that it was far too intricate and _moving_. One of the wolves was even watching him.

Perhaps in another type of game that wouldn't be a problem, but though Yggdrasil did once have the option for such tattoos they were quickly banned. Too many players were wearing them to the point it was causing serious lag. Some players even unequipped armour to show off the tattoos in combat in the hope of creating lag spikes.

_'Maybe she is a hacker, no administrator would be allowed that level of customization.'_

Wait.

Damn.

Oh, damn...

The game developers **were** allowed that level of customization... And one name in particular fitted the girl in front of him perfectly.

Luckily Ainz's panic attack was quickly shut down by his undead body, unluckily she seemed to have noticed it first.

'Ahh... I'll take it from the emotional suppression that you've come to a conclusion. I truly didn't expect the racial traits to effect players.'

_'Okay, don't freak out, she can read your status effects. One of the insanely powerful literal Creators of Yggdrasil can see, what, all my weaknesses?...What else? Health and magic? Items? Wait, can she read my mind as well!? No, probably not, you're a player....But who am I kidding, the minds of all the Floor Guardians could be at serious risk here.'_

His emotions calmed again. He could do this. He would protect his people. She was still only human after all, she could be reasoned with.

'If I was to hazard a guess I would say that you are the Head Artist and Game Designer: Aiska Sullivan. The one responsible for the creation of most of Yggdrasil's characters, lore and boss designs. As much as an honour as it is to meet you... why are you here Miss Sullivan?'

Out of the corner of his eye Ainz saw Demiurge flinch. Good, hopefully that meant the devil understood how dangerous the situation was.

Aiska looked into his eyes as her smirk turned into a grimace.

'To be honest, due to... ah, I thought I was the only one who'd been brought over to this new world. I tried the GM call as well as my old team's other methods of communicating...I thought I was truly alone here. It's nice to see another person, as unfortunate as this all is.'

'You do not count the humans of this world as people?'

_'Hold on, what about the people of Nazarick?...It would explain her willingness to re-write the Guardians._'

She hummed and dropped her gaze to the floor.

'I haven't really had much interaction with the NPCs here. You're a player so I'd assume there isn't much difference to how you see this world in comparison to Yggdrasil? I wasn't actually in creative mode when I was brought through, however my game HUD far more closely resembles my debug menu than that of the standard player.....It's hard to see NPCs as people when I know every status effect on them, their mood, lore and the exact hex code of their hair along with a whole pile of other utterly pointless information. Every NPC comes with a wall of text... looking at you is a breath of fresh air.'

'So what do you see when you look at me?'

'Eh, status effects, HP, MP, items, probably cool down timers if one was ticking right now. Mostly just the information you could see for yourself using spells or items on other players. And the IRL user info Admins would be able to access.'

_' Wow.....Okay, that's way too much info she's got on me, assuming she really does mean everything Yggdrasil items can show. Even assuming she can't hack me fighting this girl would be any player's nightmare.'_

'Hmm, I see.'

Ainz leaned back in his throne.

_'Hmm, if I can keep her away from the NPCs...she doesn't seem overly hostile. She might even want to be friends. If so the benefits her vision could bring to Nazarick would be immense....However the destruction she could cause here would be too. But what if she decided to start 'editing' this new world while I'm not looking? Ahhhhhh....this is too much. What if she keeps editing the Guardians if I do have her close enough to keep an eye on!?' _

His panic was inhibited in time for her next words.

'Hey, don't stress over it okay?'

Aiska was rocking on her heels again, her hands behind her back, eyes now on the floor.

'Look, I'd like to be allies. Or at least be able to come over and chat every now and then? I can keep you updated if I find any more players. I get though that there's a lot you need to consider so how about I come back in a few days time and we can continue this conversation then....Please?'

Her smile had faded into something more melancholy.

_'No way, you can literally DESTROY THE WORLD and your asking me if it's okay to come visit. Seriously?_'

'Ah- yes, very well then.'

'Then I shall see you in three days...Suzuki Satoru.'

She said with smirk and a mock bow before vanishing, nothing to signal her teleportation.

_'Ahhh damn it, if she knows my real name and the rest of my IRL user info she probably knows my bank details as well.'_

Somehow he couldn't quite muster the energy to care. The problems of that world were far away now.


	2. Chapter 2

Demiurge didn't understand.

And whilst it was presumptuous to assume he should be able to understand the truth behind the conversation that had transpired between Lord Ainz and the human girl, or what his Lord was planning by not responding to the attack on Albedo, the amount he didn't understand worried him greatly.

He knew Ainz dumbed down his explanations for the Guardians but the words the human had used: 'HUD', 'status effects' and 'cool down timers' were all terms he'd only heard spoken by the Supreme Beings, and he would gladly admit he didn't fully understand their meaning. 'Debug menu' was a complete unknown and the _'__hex code of their hair__'_.....some sort of colour based hair curse perhaps? How did that possibly fit into the conversation?

At first Demiurge assumed the human girl must be a player, though clearly not one of the forty-one Supreme Beings, however his Lord Ainz not only deduced her full name but had called her a _developer_.

From what he understood the 'devs', as the Supreme Ones called them, were the bringers of the 'patches and updates' the Supreme Beings had shown great excitement over as well as bugs which sometimes caused amusement but more often annoyance. Perhaps the 'debug menu' was a tool for designing such bugs? After all there was many types of insects out there, to the point they might need a special tool to make them, and it was the kind of unimportant work the Supreme Beings might hand off to a dev along with everything else outside of Nazarick.

But far more urgently Demiurge knew with perfect clarity that he had failed.

He was the one in charge of Nazarick's defences. One lone human had made it all the way to the throne room, if admittedly with help. It was beyond disgraceful that none of the systems he had in place had informed him to her presence.

As he kneeled before his Lord Ainz, head bowed to the ground and a gentle tremble running across his whole body, Demiurge pondered if that was the reason Albedo had been left to her fate: For she too had failed their Lord. But the fault truly lay with himself and surely even the kind and merciful Lord Ainz would see that even a slow death would be too good for him after this disaster.

Demiurge dared not look at his Lord, nor dare ask what would become of him, he would wait with his head to the ground in silence until Ainz honoured him with his punishment.

A minute passed in silence...then two. Demiurge couldn't even hear Ainz's cloths rustle. After the third minute Demiurge started to consider what words would convey his regrets the best when-

' _Message_: Sebas, have the Pleiades search every possible route between the surface and the throne room. Should they find anyone frozen, unresponsive or otherwise acting strangely have them brought to the throne room immediately. This is of the top most priority.'

' _Message:_ Pandora's Actor, check that our most valued treasures are still in place before reporting to the throne room.'

Ah, of course. Whilst Demiurge was worrying about his own failures his Lord Ainz was doing the rational thing and using the message spell to find out the extent of the damage she had caused. The defence of Nazarick was still the priority and and wallowing in self-indulgent misery was just another failure on Demiurge's part.

' Demiurge.'

' M-my Lord?'

' Have all the Floor Guardians search for any abnormalities, search your own floor as well, then have all but Victim and Gargantua report back here.'

' My Lord, Cocytus and Mare are still in the lizardmen village.'

' Have them return at once, this takes priority over all other tasks.'

' Yes my Lord Ainz, as you wish.' Demiurge stood and swallowed, his tail flicking nervously.' My Lord Ainz....I know this is not the time but I must also sincerely apologise for my failure in letting a human approach you unsanctioned. I will humbly accept any punishment you deem fit to give, including my death. I am not fit to serve you my Lord.'

' Demiurge.' Ainz finally turned to face the devil.' There was nothing you could do to stop the likes of her. It is in a developer's nature to have access to where ever they wish. Not even I am capable of preventing that. We will just have to fix the damage that has been done....Now go.'

Demiurge gave one final bow before turning to walk away from the Supreme Being, past the frozen Albedo and past Aura as she stared blankly off into the dark depths of the throne room.

~*~

Ainz let out a sigh as the devil quietly shut the door behind him. In truth he'd forgotten Demiurge was even there, as lost in thought as he was. And now he was going to have to convince Demiurge, hopefully along with a conscious Albedo and Aura, that he didn't want them dead.

Albedo and Aura....No doubt there were others stuck like them but Ainz felt he had truly failed them both by letting them end up like this. He hadn't even considered the possibility of the game designers entering this world. No it was such a minute chance, he couldn't have known. He would do what he could to fix them but with his ability to reprogram the NPCs removed he might have to wait till Aiska returned and demand she fixed the mess she had made.

Though...actually Aura was behaving slightly different to Albedo.

Ainz quickly opened the administration system and looked up the NPC status report: She was still showing up as loyal to Nazarick. With a sigh of relief Ainz stood up from his throne and approached the dark elf child. Aura didn't look at him but she blinked and then after a few seconds she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

_' Is she in her idle animation? If she is I think Bukubukuchagama programmed her to point at herself or yawn after enough time.'_

As he hoped after a few more minutes Aura yawned, stretched and scratched behind her ear with a cute grin.

_' Right, hmm. So Aiska probably commanded Aura to take her to me. Then once the command had been met Aura returned to her default idle animation. Wait, would another command wake her? '_

' Aura wake up.'

Still no response.

' Aura step forward, bow down.........stand by?'

_' Nothing's working. Even if I do manage wake her up Aiska's commands might still over rule my own. I really might have to kill her and resurrect her like I did Shalltear. Wait a minute, in Yggdrasil I remember one of the other guild members attacking an NPC when they were stuck in their fighting animation. The NPC's stagger over-rode the glitch. There's a chance...Still I really don't want to test this out on her.'_

' My apologies, Aura, if this does not work.'

Normally a magic caster wouldn't have access to most of the moves that allowed staggering but even the lowest level player could perform a basic back-stab.

_' Hmm, now what weapon would do the least amount of damage to her and still get through her defences....ah.'_

Switching to his Momon armour to allow the use of a melee weapon Ainz pulled out a rusty dagger from the darkness of his inventory.

_' It may not seem like much but this dagger's one of the few that will do 1 HP of damage no matter the opponent's defences. I remember when I had to confiscate it from Luci★Fer after he started following other guild members around poking them with it.'_

Ainz slowly moved to stand directly behind Aura.

_' It may only be 1 HP of damage but I hate the idea of attacking one of my Floor Guardians, especially Aura or Mare. Harming a child just to wake them up....ugh. I really hope this works. Well it seems I still have enough of my humanity for this to still feel horribly wrong. Just a graze should do it, nothing too deep.'_

Carefully Ainz brought the dagger down on the back of Aura's arm, it was one of the few weapons that could cut the dragon scale leather she wore like butter.

Aura jumped forward like a rocket, twisting mid air to face her attacker, whip ready in hand.

' Ah! Lord Ainz! I-I, uh, why- I'm so so sorry my Lord.'

Aura's face went bright red as she realised who she'd nearly struck. Quickly she dropped down into a bow.

' Relax Aura, I'm glad you reacted the way you did. Now tell me, what do you remember?'

' Uh, I was standing here and you poked me with a dagger.'

_' Well she has some amount of memories at least.'_

' And do you know why I did such a thing Aura? Or for that matter why you are standing in the throne room?'

' I did something wrong? I'm sorry Lord Ainz...' The confusion and distress on Aura's face was clear however.' I was leading the Lady to you. And then I was waiting to see if anything else was needed?'

' It's alright Aura, none of this is your fault. Tell me why did you think it was the right choice to lead Ais- the Lady to me? Take your time to think about the answer.'

_' Damn, it's really hard to question her without it sounding like I'm angry.'_

Aura scrunched up her nose then opened her mouth before shutting it again. She just looked even more hopelessly confused.

' She asked me to, I wouldn't just let anyone else into Nazarick but since it was her I assumed it would be okay.'

_' So...okay, the re-writing's not actually created a reason for her actions, just made Aura think it was the right thing to do. In that case, if the same applies to Albedo then even if we kill and resurrect her she might decide it's best to just stand there. There's a few other things we can still try on her, though I doubt they'll work. The more worrying thing is Aura still seems to think her actions were correct, she may even be more loyal to Aiska than me now.' _

' Now, Aura, I need you to tell me if there is anything else the Lady asked you to do. Are you able to do that for me?'

Aura nodded.

' The Lady didn't ask me to do anything else, didn't even say anything other than 'Take me to Momonga.' I don't think she was really paying attention to me, mostly just looking around Nazarick.'

' What did you think of the Lady, Aura? Was there anything interesting in the way she acted or her personality?'

' Not really. Just a curious human. Her tattoo's cool though.'

_' Okay, hopefully that means she's not switched loyalties or programmed to follow any more commands. But still, Aiska could be getting her to lie to me or for all I know Aura's completely forgotten about the order until something happens to activate it. This sucks, everything gets so complicated when mind control is involved.'_

' Now tell everything that happened from the moment you first saw her.'

' Sure, Lord Ainz. I was just outside the Amphitheatre doing my usual rounds when I heard her voice call out 'hello?' I didn't recognise it at the time so I let my pets know something was up and hid up in the VIP box to get a closer look. She instantly spotted me even though I know for sure I was invisible. Then she told me to take her to you and we started walking. She kept stopping to look or touch stuff and a few times folk tried to ask questions or get in the way but they all gave up pretty quickly. '

_' Hmm, So there is other casualties out there.'_

' Aura, I need you to tell me the exact route you used to get here and where you encountered anyone on the way.'

_' What a mess....'_

~*~

By the time Demiurge returned the throne room was bustling.

There was a small gathering of Nazarick's denizens standing by the door as Demiurge entered, split into two groups: Those who were merely unaware of the world around them and a second larger group of guards who had been frozen in the midst of an attack of some form. Could it be that the spell only triggers when hostility was shown?

Lord Ainz and a far more lively Aura were standing over Albedo as the maids laid her out on a couch: She was still in the exact same pose, even down to her flowing hair, and the maids were currently trying to slot a stool under her outstretched battle-axe.

In front of the throne waited the Pleiades, Shalltear and a yellow clad figure that could only be Pandora's Actor, judging by Albedo's past description.

As Demiurge started to approach Lord Ainz the door behind him opened and Mare and Cocytus entered, quickly catching up with him. With the exception of Victim and Gargantua all the Floor Guardians were present. Ainz sent the maids away with a wave of his hand before moving to sit on the throne.

Once the last of the Floor Guardians reached the steps of the throne they dropped as one to kneel in front of their Lord. When Ainz didn't speak the tension grew, and each of the Guardians was undoubtedly thinking of anything they could have done to warrant such a meeting. Though Aura looked more confused than worried.

' Stand.'

Ainz leaned forward, his hands steepled as he did so.

' Today we had a visitor.....' He held up his hand at their gasps of shock.' Tell me, what do you know of the developers?'

Cocytus merely shook his head, Aura and Mare frowned at the question, it was Shalltear who first raised her hand to speak.

' My dearest Lord Ainz. From what I understood of Lord Peroroncino's words to me the developers design clothing as well as other useful items for the Supreme Beings. He was truly unimpressed by the modesty of the bunny girl costumes they made though he still felt that they were suitable enough to gift me one, shall I show you at some point, my beloved master? '

It was obvious that Shalltear being the Guardian of three different floors of Nazarick had given her a wide net to listen into the Forty-one Supreme Beings' conversations in the past. She was perhaps the most knowledgeable in the Supreme Beings' Words followed by Sebas, as much as Demiurge disliked to admit the butler had bested him in some regard. Demiurge himself was perhaps one of the least...After all other than his own Creator, Ulbert Alain Odle, the Supreme Beings had little reason to pass through the seventh floor.

One by one the Floor Guardian's shared what little they knew about the 'devs', including Demiurge's own insect theory. Little by little a picture grew of troublesome servants who handled the minor tasks outside of Nazarick, designing objects and events to amuse the Supreme Beings, yet still daring to refuse to do what they requested as well as causing a whole host of annoying problems through their 'bugs.' No wonder Demiurge had never met them, he'd be surprised if such creatures were still permitted to even look at Nazarick.

Throughout it all Ainz sat in silence, not even interrupting when they started squabbling. Demiurge had never seen his Lord Ainz worried to this extent before, no not worried of course, but.... concerned.

When eventually the voices trailed off Lord Ainz leaned back and quietly spoke.

' Each religion of Yggdrasil has a different creation myth, as you know wars have been fought over these differences, however the truth is far simpler. Once, long ago, there was two siblings barely older than children. They both had an interest in designing games and building worlds. The sister would create the races, locations, cultures and history of the worlds and the brother would create the rules; natural phenomena, magic, skills, items and so forth.

At first they were the only ones to enter their worlds, they were still young and inexperienced, but with time they started to draw the curiosity of players. The siblings learned quickly and as they grew they were taken under the wing of other world builders: The developers. They worked with the developers on two other worlds before eventually deciding to create Yggdrasil, a project that was lead by the siblings.'

Ainz paused to examine the Guardians expressions. They looked like they had been gifted with the utmost treasure, forbidden knowledge of the Supreme Beings. However, none of the Guardians looked concerned in the least.

' Understand this: The developers are no mere designers of clothing and insects. They are the ones who created everything in Yggdrasil, including your own races. Many world builders severely limit the creativity allowed to players but the developers of Yggdrasil not so much. It is by their permission that the members of Ainz Ooal Gown were able to create all of you as well as them that the world class items contact to allow the rules of Yggdrasil to be re-written. '

Demiurge frowned. When his Lord Ainz was speaking to Aiska Ainz had claimed he was honoured to meet her, it was grating, at the time Demiurge had wanted to speak up and remind his Lord that he needn't pander to such lowlifes. But still his Lord continued to speak about her with a degree of...respect. The way Ainz described the developers implied they were perhaps closer to craftsmen, the Supreme Being's their customers, rather than servants.

Besides the him, Pandora's Actor gave a exaggerated saluted.

' If I understand you correctly Lord Ainz then our guest was closer to that of a god, nay a Supreme Being! How much of a threat to Nazarick might they pose? And what are the chances of them being a danger to yourself!?'

Demiurge was about to open his mouth to scold the treasurer for his comparison when Lord Ainz made a quiet noise of agreement and nodded.

' Our guest today was Aiska Sullivan, the younger of the two siblings. Understand this: She is by far the greatest threat to Nazarick we have and most likely will ever face. The combined forces of Nazarick will likely only be able to damage her if she allows it or is tricked. Also the ability she used to control both Albedo and Aura is most likely limitless. I suspect Aiska can re-write any of you to do as she wishes: Be it freezing you, killing you, changing all of your memories or your loyalty to Nazarick.'

The Floor Guardians shared worried looks, Demiurge knew it was less over the threat to themselves, but instead that their Lord didn't deny his own vulnerability.

' She wished for an alliance of sorts. But I am concerned that even with Aiska on our side she won't see you as real people, not that you are insects to her but instead objects, golems perhaps.'

Pandora's Actor raised his hand.

' Is it possible to contact this world's devs?'

' The World Class Items we own will likely contact Aiska. However it may be possible to find a new item, assuming this world both has devs and they're still watching.'

Ainz then turned to look at the devil.

' Demiurge. Recount our interaction in detail, everything you noticed about Aiska. Please speak your thoughts so that all will understand.'

' As you wish my Lord Ainz.'

Demiurge turned slightly so that both his Lord and the other Guardians could see his face clearly. For a second Demiurge thought on his words, he knew his Lord enjoyed the word games they played, this was the first time Ainz had requested Demiurge to speak so plainly, but needs must.

' It was earlier this day during the report Albedo and I were giving Lord Ainz Aura walked in leading a human girl-'

' She's human? That this developer is such a pitiful creature.' Shalltear interrupted with a huff.

' Shalltear, both the players and developers chose their forms when they enter Yggdrasil. However that humanity you scoff at is perhaps our biggest advantage over her. Hopefully Aiska's chosen form will make her more empathetic. Now don't interrupt Demiurge's story again.' Ainz scolded her.

' Ah, m-my apologies Lord Ainz.'

Demiurge continued to speak, recounting word for word the entire conversation between Lord Ainz and Aiska, giving time for his audience to voice their frustrations or praise their Lord.

As he spoke the devil pondered the implications of his Lord's words. If the Supreme Beings chose their form upon entering the world of Yggdrasil what did Lord Ainz and his own creator, Ulbert Alain Odle, look like before? Were they formless creatures of pure energy? What were the ways each race effected the Supreme Ones?

For what reason had Aiska chosen that form? She was beautiful, yes, with pale skin, mahogany hair in loose ringlets and eyes both wistful and a piercing steel blue. However there were many other races out there just as capable of beauty. There was a...fragility about her appearance, a child like way that she moved. Did she choose her form so that she would appear weak? Or perhaps due to there being so many other human players it was just case of trying to appease her customers.

Her body language had been fluid and surprisingly open, assuming Aiska wasn't an actor the likes he'd never seen before. that would be a rather useful weakness of her humanity.

' My Lord I believe she was genuinely concerned about making a good first impression, strange considering she just attacked us. Furthermore as soon as you showed irritation she'd rock on her heels or fidget, a useful tell if it's genuine, and she seemed to have no desire to hide her own uncertainties from you.'

Demiurge didn't bother to add that the way Aiska kept rocking was a trait he's observed in humans going insane along with the sudden sharp tilts of her head, like a bird trying to figure out how much of a threat Ainz was. That she held her arms behind her back might be an attempt to prevent obvious self soothing as well.

' Developers interact with the world...with a different set of rules. I expect that since no one died Aiska didn't even consider her actions an attack. Do not expect her thoughts or behaver to be straightforward. She may have become a little unhinged after the destruction of Yggdrasil.'

Whilst he didn't doubt his Lord knew about her worrying behaviour the look Ainz just gave Demiurge felt like a reprimand for not telling the others.

' There was something else my Lord. She didn't expect for any other players to be in this new world. Could she have arrived using a different method to us? Perhaps from the place you call IRL?'

After a brief pause Lord Ainz gave a slight nod.' Was there anything else Demiurge?'

' Nothing that I can be certain of as of yet my Lord. I'm afraid to say I am inexperienced at trying to understand players other than yourself, though have no doubt I shall endeavour to learn quickly. However if she was merely human I would say she was lonely and desperate to be around another like her. You said she was quite young for one of your kind. Could she be looking for a father figure or have developed a crush on yourself?'

That did of course lead to the question of how old both Aiska and Lord Ainz actually were, Demiurge had heard the Supreme Beings number their ages before but clearly those numbers couldn't represent the years in Yggdrasil otherwise most of the Supreme Beings would be younger than their own creations. No surely measured in thousand if not millions of years.

Lord Ainz was staring at him with his mouth slightly open and though Demiurge had seen his Lord pull that expression many a time before he still didn't understand its exact meaning. As much as he didn't wish to critique anything about his Overlord Demiurge's life would be a lot more simpler if Lord Ainz didn't have a skull for a face.

' Ah, yes, thank you Demiurge. The decision of what we shall do about Aiska will have long lasting consequences therefore I would like to firstly hear each of your thoughts. '

Ainz then nodded to the far end of the row of Guardians.

' Cocytus.'

' She. Would. Make. A. Powerful. Ally. And. A. Terrible. Foe.'

' Shalltear.'

' We have the might of Nazarick, surely we can find a way to remove this pest.'

' Aura.'

' She didn't seem like much trouble to me, If she ended up being our ally it would be alright, right?'

The rest of the Floor Guardians stared at her in horrified shock.

' Uh, s-sis, she mind controlled you and froze a whole bunch of people....' Then Mare turned to Ainz.' Is-is there anyway we can just avoid her?'

' I'm afraid not, even if Aiska does loose interest in us should she become bored or irritated at this world the destruction she could cause would be immense. Though it would have been simpler to remain unnoticed by Aiska she is too much of a danger to completely ignore. Now, Pandora's Actor, your thoughts.'

' Since Aiska worked on Yggdrasil do you think she might grow to care for Nazarick, being the remains of the world she created? Perhaps she does truly wish to find others like her and may not risk loosing the chance at friendship by misbehaving. Furthermore if she is a danger unobserved then we may not have much choice. '

' Demiurge.'

' I agree that we need the chance to observe this developer and become better prepared. I predict it unlikely for us to find a way of killing, or even apprehending her, within the three days before her return. Whilst we may be able to lower her guard for such an attack if she learns to trust us. She may even prove herself useful to Nazarick, though I doubt even that would be enough to sway my mind on her need to die for such brazenness walking into Nazarick's throne room.'

Ainz nodded before turning to look over to Albedo, his shoulders slumping slightly.

' Unfortunately Albedo is unable to join us in this discussion.' He said quietly.' However I thank you all for your contributions. I agree that this..._alliance_ with her would be the sensible choiceuntil we learn more about the situation and how best to keep Nazarick safe. It could be that she will wish to move into Nazarick, however she could just as easily be content roaming this new world and just drop in to talk every now and then. We will have to adjust as we learn more.'

Ainz leaned forward again.

' This may seem like a silly suggestion but I advise you to try to show off your personalities, prove to Aiska that you're more than just objects. It's more important that she learns to see you as real people than that she likes all of you, of course I'd discourage actively being hostile to her, but don't behave falsely friendly with her.'

Demiurge watched the other Guardians frown in confusion. Being asked to show off your personality, to prove you were a real person was not a simple task Ainz had set for them. He would have to carefully guide the Guardians if they started to act with obvious falseness, perhaps lessons for Shalltear right from the start.

' Demiurge as punishment you will be in charge of taking care of her. Keep her content, speak to her, use your own judgement when answering her questions and as long as her actions don't harm Nazarick just observe them. Learn everything you can. Normally I would be hesitate to let a mind controller so close to any of you but the truth is distance will matter little to her and she already knows of your presence. I would like you all to come up with methods of testing if your mind has been altered.'

' Yes my Lord.'

Truthfully Demiurge had been expecting Ainz to assign him this task, he had already determined ways to let his other duties fade into the background. For his Lord Ainz to consider this a punishment however....yes it was tedious to interact with humans but clearly his Lord had foreseen his task to be far more irritating than he himself had. It was nothing more than what he deserved.

' This will be a trying time for all of us. Tread carefully.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeh, Shalltear has a bunny girl costume. Now all I can think of is her trying to wear it whilst hiding the fact she has breast padding too.
> 
> I've got three different stories being written right now, and I'm just adding to them as each strikes my mood and I have time for them, unfortunately that makes for slow progress. Comments do help though, it was YamaneAyano's comment last chapter that switched me back to this story.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I last wrote, this is mostly just to get back into it. I don't know where exactly I'm going or how dark it will get so I'll add tags as they come up. I'm also badly dyslexic so tell me if I've used the wrong word for something.  
Expect a lot of characters talking and a plot that bounces between the Anime, Light Novel and my own nonsense.  
Enjoy.


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